Entries from Mexico
Today was a logistics day with a hike to continue our acclimatization. We left La Malinche around 8 am and had a delicious breakfast enroute to the town of Amecameca where we bought our water and remaining supplies for the Ixta climb. From there we drove up a winding road to Paso de Cortes which lies between the 2 volcanoes Popo and Ixta that dominate this area of Mexico. With rain lightly bouncing off our jackets, we walked the 4.5 miles from the park entrance to the hut located at 13,000’. We are packing and enjoying the new dusting of snow on the surrounding peaks. Dinner and a good night's sleep will have us prepared to head up to high camp tomorrow morning.
RMI Guide Mike King
On The Map
Today we attempted to hike up the 14,600’ peak of La Malinche. The drive to the park entrance goes through a nice pine forest. We got to tree line around 1:45pm at 12,800’ and storm clouds had been sitting on the summit all day. There was thunder and billowing clouds for the next hour. The guides decided that being on an exposed ridge line with a building electrical storm on the horizon wasn't the best scenario. We started the descent with views of the surrounding countryside coming and going between dark clouds. We are back at the cabins having had a delicious meal and eager to get started on the Ixta portion of our trip.
RMI Guide Mike King
This is Mike checking in for the November
Mexico Volcanoes trip. Everyone arrived in Mexico City over the last 2 days with all their equipment. We had a brief team meeting and dinner last night. This morning we will head out early to get to La Malinche, a dormant volcano for the last 3,100 years for our first acclimatization hike. The bus ride takes us out of the vast and heavily populated area of Mexico City with its population of 22 million people and into the rolling agricultural communities near the border of Tlaxcala and Puebla states.
The goal for today is to hike to the top of La Malinche at 14,600’. We will check in later today once we are back down at the cabins.
RMI Guide Mike King
Well our trip has come to a close! We are all loaded up for one last bus ride back to Mexico City. The mountain is looming behind us, standing above golden fields of fall corn, looking crisp and fresh in the morning air. Everyone got one last look at
Orizaba on our way out of town.
It has been a great trip with incredible food, company and climbing. All climbers are excited to get back to their families to share stories of their Mexico Volcanoes Expedition! Enjoy a few pictures of our climb yesterday.
RMI Guides JT Schmitt and Grayson Swingle
This is the Mexico volcanoes expedition checking in from the summit of
Pico de Orizaba! We summited in great time in great conditions! Blue bird skies and 5mph winds greeted us from the top! Stand by for some pictures once we are back in town!
RMI Guides JT Schmitt and Grayson Swingle
On The Map
Checking in from the Piedra Grande Hut on
Pico de Orizaba at an elevation of 13,900 feet. We’ve had a busy day driving from Puebla and prepping in Tlachichuca. After a delicious dinner of chicken tacos, we are ready to turn in for an early start to head up Orizaba tomorrow! Wish us luck!!
Mexico volcanoes expedition.
RMI Guide JT Schmitt
On The Map
Greetings from Puebla! The team is enjoying a well deserved rest day in the beautiful city of Puebla. It’s been a rainy day here but we are making the most of it. Each of us have set out on our own to explore the incredible churches built in the 1500’s and the lively markets found around our hotel.
Tomorrow we will head to our final objective of the trip,
Pico de Orizaba (18,491')! The weather is looking quite wintery up there today through tomorrow but we may get a window to summit on Saturday if all goes well.
That’s all for now, we are heading to feast on some authentic Mexican cuisine!
RMI Guide Grayson Swingle
Today we gave our best shot at the summit of Ixta, but the mountain countered with a stronger blow.
We woke up to mild temperatures and light winds and decided to start climbing around 2am. From past experiences our local guide, Ulisses, and myself were wary of these conditions, such warm temperatures with moisture aloft often indicate heavy precipitation and winds in the near future, so we decided we would climb tentatively upwards until the first sign of bad weather.
We successfully climbed through the most technical portion of the mountain to an elevation of 16,500 feet. At this point the winds started to increase as well as the rate of precipitation, so we decided to head back down. By the time we reached the final saddle before camp, the winds were nearing 40 mph and the snow was blanketing everything in sight. We were happy we turned back as soon as we did and everyone welcomed a dry tent and a hot drink. Now we are off to Puebla for some much earned rest before we go to climb Orizaba!
Enjoy some pictures from the last few days.
RMI Guide JT Schmitt & Team
Hello from Ixta high camp!
We woke up this morning at the Altzomoni Hut to a crisp and clear morning. The moon, out in all its glory, was suspended just above
Pico de Orizaba, far in the distance, and Popo was periodically producing puffs of smoke, creating an incredible view for us to begin our day with. Although it was a sight to behold, we had little time to sit and watch, because we had a high camp to get to!
Everyone made it up to approximately 15,500 feet in great style! The day proved to have as beautiful weather as the morning provided, and we enjoyed the blue skies the whole way up to high camp. The loads were a bit heavy, and the air a bit thin, but that was no issue for this team.
Now we are all relaxing in our tents and in true Mexican style enjoying a little siesta before dinner. In the morning we plan on waking up and climbing to the summit of
Ixta!
Hasta luego!
RMI Guides
JT Schmitt &
Grayson Swingle
On The Map
It has been another beautiful sunny day here in Mexico! Today the team moved from
La Malinche through the town of Amecameca to the base of Ixta at 13,000 feet. Here, we did a final gear check and packed our bags to begin our two day journey up Ixta. The volcano next to Ixta, Popo, has been giving us quite a show today with big plumes of ash and gas coming from its crater.
Tonight our local logistics manager, Rehulio, is cooking us a Mexican feast as clouds begin to roll in on our perch! Rehulio does tons of work behind the scenes to make this trip run smoothly along with his porters and guides who help us along the way. Big shout out to them!
The plan for tomorrow is to ascend to our high camp on Ixta at 15,500 feet. It’s going to be a big day! Wish us luck for good weather for climbing to the summit!
RMI Guide Grayson Swingle
On The Map
Best of Luck to you and your team Mike!!! I’ll be following along!
Posted by: Farmer Dave on 11/12/2019 at 3:05 am
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